This invention relates to a marine electrical connector, more particularly to a marine on-board charger inlet.
The use of marine on-board charger inlets is well known. Such devices are normally attached to structure of a boat such as a wall or bulkhead. A conventional prior art inlet includes a housing which receives and retains an electrical plug having electrical prongs or contacts which are engaged by a receptacle pushed into position in the housing from a side of the bulkhead or other structure.
As will be seen below, a commonly employed marine on-board charger inlet currently employed incorporates an integral partition within the interior of the housing between the ends of the housing. The front end of the plug body of the electrical plug engages the partition and the electrical prongs pass through openings in the partition for engagement by a receptacle in the housing interior. Such an arrangement requires that the electrical prongs be longer than those of an ordinary electrical plug since the thickness of the inner partition must be taken into account when providing an interconnection between the electrical plug and the receptacle. Thus, the electrical plug cannot be utilized in other applications with conventional receptacles as a normal electrical plug.
Another feature of the commonly used prior art marine on-board charger inlet is that it employs a spring biased metal lock element on the plug which is used to provide a releasable interconnection between the plug and the housing. Such an arrangement is prone to corrosion which can interfere with proper operation of the lock.
The present invention relates to a marine on-board charger inlet which is characterized by its relative simplicity, ease of use and reliability in even extreme marine conditions.
The marine on-board charger inlet includes a housing having first and second housing open ends and a cylindrically-shaped inner wall defining a housing interior extending between the first and second housing open ends.
A circular-shaped rib is attached to the housing and extends inwardly from the cylindrically-shaped inner wall between the first and second housing open ends.
An electrical plug is incorporated in the marine onboard charger inlet which includes a plug body having a front end and electrical prongs projecting from the front end. The plug body projects into the first housing open end and frictionally engages the cylindrically-shaped inner wall of the housing.
The plug body has a circular-shaped recess adjoining and extending rearwardly from the front end receiving the circular-shaped rib and cooperable therewith to prevent movement of the electrical plug in the direction of the second housing open end. The electrical prongs are positioned within the housing interior and spaced inwardly from the cylindrically-shaped inner wall and inwardly of the second housing open end.
Lock means releasably locks the plug body in engagement with the circular-shaped rib and retains the electrical plug in the housing.
Other features, advantages and objects of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.